


kitchen fires and dragon breath

by orphan_account



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-19
Updated: 2017-08-19
Packaged: 2018-12-17 11:03:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11850240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: It's a competition to see who can cook the best, but is it really a competition when Alex and Kara are more pre-occupied with each other? And why are there so many fires in just a few days?





	kitchen fires and dragon breath

Kara shifts as she looks into the camera. The producer smiles at her, tries to calm her nerves, but she hasn’t gotten over them in months. She doesn’t think she’ll ever get over them, not really, and not with this topic.

“So, do you have any idea why our favourite food scientist is sneezing too much to compete today?”

She blushes.

“We kind of spent too much time outside last night. I don’t know what happened, really. One moment, we’re talking about the stars and how brilliant Alex actually is, and then we’re waking up to Lucy spraying us with water as she cannonballs into the pool. She sighs wistfully. I can still hear her death cries as Alex tried to strangle her.”

“You do realise Lucy’s still alive, right blonde and virginal?”

She smiles at the producer. She knows that they watch the house, that there are almost no private moments, but Alex does have a point when she says that it’s easier to mess with them. It is fun and she hasn’t had a moment of that since the day’s challenge started.

“I don’t know, Miss Willis. Ghosts are something else these days. I swear, my cousin once worked with someone who just disappeared into the shadows for hours at a time. You never know when the supernatural is going to pop up.”

* * *

 

The kitchen is a mess as Kara, Lucy, Siobhan and Lena scramble to try to beat the boys. Kara’s covered in flour, steadfastly ignoring Lucy as she mixes.

“Hey Lena, could you get Kara to pass me the wheat grain?”

Lena doesn’t look up from the pieces of mango she’s trying to pattern as she gestures to Kara to do as she’s been asked. Kara just continues mixing whistling the harmony to _Kiss the Girl_.

“You know my policy on talking to the dead, Lena. It’s really bad luck to answer their requests.”

“And you know my policy on Disney songs that you want to sing with Alex when she’s not here.”

Kara blushes to the tips of her ears.

“I…t-that’s not…you know what? I’m going to keep whistling and _you_ can pass the flour to the ghost.”

“Wheat grain.”

“Th-that.”

Lena sighs, watches Kara from the corner of her eye. The girl has been despondent, putting on this weird show of mischievousness that doesn’t fit her ever since they’d found out that Alex would not be competing with them today. It’s as if something inside of her has gone out, as if the joy had been sucked right out of her, making her act painful to watch.

Had Lena been a gambling woman, she’d bet everything she had that Kara would cheer up as soon as they were free and she was able to go to Alex, but she doesn’t need to know the odds to that one to know it would be an easy win. Just looking at her now, compared to when Alex had been there the day before to help with the pastry portion of their challenge, it’s obvious to anyone with eyes what’s going on.

She sighs as she finishes with the mango and moves on to the other fruit. They’re keeping it simple, unlike the boys, who are struggling as they argue over what to do with the ingredients. It’s a risk, what they’re doing. Maybe the judges will think it too bland, will subtract points for the simplistic presentation and dish, but this is the only way to ensure that Kara stays out of trouble, that she won’t suddenly sink into a despondency that brings the entire team down with her.

She’s had enough of that at the start of the morning and she really doesn’t need it at the moment, if she’s to get through the day and Lucy’s flirtation with Siobhan.

* * *

 

Lena sits up straight in her seat and looks directly at the camera, ignoring the producer’s leer. She doesn’t really feel comfortable under Maxwell Lord’s gaze, but she isn’t going to complain where he can see her when it’s so much more pleasurable to simply ignore him and get on with the interview.

She smiles at the cameraperson, however. Vasquez has always been kind to her and she doesn’t forget that sort of thing. It also helps that they are more than capable of doing Lord’s job for him, despite never truly getting recognition for it.

“So, Miss Luthor, the challenge. What was your take on Miss Zor-El’s approach today?” True to form, Vasquez cuts right to the chase. “She seemed less than enthusiastic for the job she was given.”

Lena snorts at that. Trust them to be diplomatic about it when she wouldn’t be so kind were she much less awake and much drunker than she is at the moment.

“Enthusiastic is one word for what she usually is. I don’t think that’s what I would describe this as, however.”

“And what would you describe it as?”

“Despondent? Depressed? Somewhat like a kicked puppy? Not that I would know about that last one, given that I’ve never understood or felt the need to find out what those looked like until Kara.”

There’s a chuckle from Vasquez and Lena smiles at her again. They’re a saint for doing this and ignoring the way Lord huffs in the background. Clearly, this isn’t what he wanted, but she doesn’t care.

“Where do you think the problem lies?”

“Probably in her bed, curled around a curious little stuffed otter, I’d say.”

“Why curious?”

Lena lets out a genuine laugh at that.

“It was the first day without the camera following us around…”

* * *

 

_“Alex! Come on. I bet we can find a bunch of unhealthy snacks somewhere here that won’t taste as bad as the last set.”_

_“You said that after the last three corndog stands.” There’s an amused smile on Alex’s face as she follows Kara around the carnival, hands in her pockets while she walks. “I know you have a “perfect palate” and all, but I don’t think even you can stomach another bite.”_

_Kara scrunches her face in thought before grinning. Alex starts backing away at that._

_“Oh no. No no no. There is no way I’m taking whatever bet you have in mind, not after the whole ice cream thing at the house.”_

_Kara scoffs. “Please. You liked the thing with the ice cream. In fact, I found you cradling an entire bowl of it to your chest at four in the morning in the pool, remember?”_

_Alex whines but she doesn’t say anything in retaliation, lets Kara have her victory. She looks gorgeous and free like that, like she has nothing to worry about when the truth is that this friendship can only be temporary. It can only ever end when the competition does and she doesn’t want to think about that when she has Kara right here in front of her._

_She runs up, catches her hand and tangles their fingers together before nudging her shoulder._

_“Hey you. You know that I loved that crazy concoction, right? I’d eat any and everything you put in front of me if it’s you cooking it.”_

_Kara turns to her with wide, shining eyes and she knows that she did the right thing, that the words that came out of her are the ones she needs to hear at the moment. When Kara hugs her, she relaxes, lets herself inhale slowly as she rubs her back, too happy to have Kara so close._

_Alex knows that she probably shouldn’t be allowing herself to enjoy this so much but she can’t help herself, can’t stop herself from wanting to be near Kara all the time. There’s just something so sweet, so innately Kara that she can’t resist her, can’t stop from wanting to protect that spot of hope and happiness that outshines the darkness that she sees sometimes in the light of the stars._

_“Hey Kara?”_

_“Hmm?”_

_She looks at her and wonders, for a moment, what it would have been like in a world where they’d grown up together, been each other’s best friend for a time longer than the duration of a cooking show that never seems to matter at the end of the day. She wonders what it would be like to know all of Kara’s secrets, to be trusted with the things she holds close, what it would be like to be the one to know her best._

_She shakes her head. Those thoughts are for another time, for the loneliness that wraps around her on the nights she doesn’t spend curled up against Kara beneath the sky._

_Alex smiles at her._

_“I’m glad I came with you.”_

_Kara looks confused for a second, as if she doesn’t understand, but then she’s smiling, her eyes always so bright. It makes her want to be closer, to be as near as she can._

_“I’m happy I came with you too. And…and we don’t have to get any more food if you don’t want to but maybe we can go on the rides? I never really got to go to one of these, you know? So it’s all new to me.”_

* * *

 

Kara stares at Alex as she curls around the stuffed toy on her bed. She knows that she should probably help her back to her room, but she can’t help but stand there looking at her. She looks so small in that bed, so worn down, and Kara has to wonder how exactly Alex has managed to deal with her exuberance all this time.

She turns to go, to give her a chance to rest without bothering her. She knows that Alex needs this, that the last few days have been trying, and it’s not like she has a problem with sleeping beneath the stars she loves so much.

“Hey…where’re you going to, space girl?”

She pauses and looks back at Alex, lets her eyes run across her upper body as she sits up, runs a hand through her hair. She’s so pretty like this, the most gorgeous person she’s ever seen. It’s a wonder that she even allows Kara to see her like this, to see her this open, when the others never get this.

Kara swallows, smiles at her. It doesn’t feel natural, not when every part of her is growing warm with the embarrassment of being caught, but she does it anyway. She smiles and moves closer to the bed, kneeling down to look at Alex.

“You look tired.”

Alex chuckles, reaches out to caress Kara’s hair. “So do you. I’m sorry I couldn’t help you guys out today.”

Kara shakes her head, leans into her hand. “It’s fine. Maggie and Winn could have beaten us if they were on a team of their own, I think, but they had to deal with Mon-El, so…”

“Yeah, I saw on the live feed I got Winn to hook up.”

Kara mock glares at her. “You’re supposed to be resting, Alex Danvers, not monitoring us like some kind of benevolent god.”

Alex flutters her eyelashes. “I’m flattered that you think of me as a god when, in fact, I’m only a humble grad student seeking some kind of nutrition for my aching stomach.”

“Hungry?”

“Starving. Watching all that food get made did wonders for my appetite. So did your humming. Nothing like _The Little Mermaid_ to get a girl’s stomach going.”

Kara flushes.

* * *

 

“Danvers? She’s not even in the same category as me.” Siobhan sneers at the camera before looking down at her nails. “I suppose poor little orphan Kara could present a challenge but she’s got her eyes on the wrong prize.”

Vasquez looks at her, amused. She’d heard that they had turned down a promotion, but they were still doing Lord’s job for him. Siobhan really couldn’t see why but she didn’t care anyway.

“What’s the right prize then?”

She smirks. “Isn’t it obvious? You have three of the best chefs in the country either hosting or judging. When this is all over, they’ll have their pick of the crop and whoever’s at the finish line will be in the best position to become the next head chef at one of their restaurants.”

“So you don’t care about the money then?”

Siobhan scoffs. “Two hundred grand to fund whatever project I want? Of course I care. Who wouldn’t? I’m not saying the money isn’t a bonus but you have to face the truth, it isn’t as good as the chance to become better than whatever this is.”

“And if you win? What do you plan to do?”

“Easy. I’ll build my own business with my first restaurant and expand into a brand empire that rivals Cat Grant’s chain.”

* * *

 

Kara starts giggling as Alex whispers in her ear.

“Like a dragon? Really?”

“Smoke and everything. Maggie took videos for me, if you want to see them.”

She grins, wiping her hands on a dishcloth as she moves to check the sauce they’re working on while Siobhan sears the beef. It’s too salty, too cheesy, so she dices a tomato quickly and adds it before stirring again. This time she offers it to a blushing Alex.

“Kara…”

“Come on. I need someone else to taste it or else it comes out all weird.”

Siobhan rolls her eyes. “Sure it does. Just lick Zor-El’s thing, Danvers. You know you want to.”

Kara feels her face heat up as she watches Alex blush red. They both stare at each other for a second before they begin laughing, too embarrassed for any other reaction in that moment. She grabs onto her, leans close as she smears her cheek with sauce in her mirth. She’s too busy to notice but Alex does, scrunches her face.

“Something wrong?”

“You got sauce on me.”

“I did?” Kara looks her over, eyes widening. “I did! Oh, I’m so sorry about that. Here, let me…”

She pulls her close and attempts to wipe the sauce away, only to smear it more. Face heating up, Kara gets a wet cloth and tries to clean her up, but she only succeeds in soaking Alex’s shirt. With a sigh, Alex takes the cloth from her and wipes her entire face before hugging and nuzzling her.

“Where’s that sauce you promised me?”

Kara smiles shyly at her and holds up a fresh spoon. Keeping an eye on her, Alex licks it with a wink before going back to the stir fry she’s making, leaving Kara with a slack jaw and a spoon that dips dangerously. Siobhan passes by and tips it up until it hits Kara in the face.

“Ow! What was that for? Did I miss something? Do you need help?”

She rolls her eyes at Kara, not replying. It’s hard to watch those two, hard to not say something cutting about the way they flirt, the way they act as if they’re already together when they deny it so much already. She wants to say something, but Siobhan isn’t willing to be the one to weather that storm, isn’t willing to sit through Kara’s no doubt sugary sweet, puppy love gay panic when she needs to focus on getting Cat Grant’s attention, but God, it’s so tempting in that moment.

* * *

 

“Danvers?” Maggie shifts in her seat and smiles at Leslie. She’s a fan, but she isn’t going to bring that up in that moment when they’re supposed to be working. “Yeah, she’s cool. Jamie loves her ice cream. I think she said it was liquid nitrogen that made it like that?”

She shrugs, winks at Vasquez. She’s heard the stories from Siobhan and Lena, wonders if they prefer Leslie to Lord.

“There’s a lot of science that goes into cooking but I don’t think any of us, except maybe J’onn, is on her level when it comes to the actual _science_ , if you know what I mean.”

“’Fraid I can’t say that I do.”

Maggie rolls her eyes at that, shakes her head. She knows Leslie, knows that she knows more about this than she lets on, but she doesn’t comment on it. They’ve had too many fallings out last time, too many arguments for her to want to repeat that this year. Not to mention, she’s seen the way she looks at Siobhan, seen the way she sizes her up before she makes the decision to pair her with Alex or Kara.

“Look, can we cut to the chase here? I have a beer and a slice of Kara’s chocolate pecan pie with my name on it.”

“Thought you were into healthy things these days Sawyer?”

Maggie shrugs. “It’s good pie and she made it with Winn. Surprised you guys haven’t paired those two up yet.”

* * *

 

Maggie grumbles as she watches Winn, Alex and Kara laughing it up on the other side of the kitchen. She’d just had to go open her big mouth and now she’s face with a nigh unbeatable team while she’s stuck with Siobhan and James.

“Can you two stop bickering like kids for all of two minutes so we can figure out what we’re going to make? The Wonder Triplets have already started and Lena’s making eyes at Lucy to make some kind of fancy donuts.”

James rubs the back of his head and offers her what he probably thinks is a charming smile. She supposes it kind of is, but it does absolutely nothing for her and, if Maggie’s honest with herself, she’d rather be on Lucy and Lena’s team right now. At least then she could actually have something to work with instead of these two and their in-fighting.

“Sorry. We’re just…too different, I guess.”

She rolls her eyes. “No duh. Now come on. Let’s get to work on this thing. Did you two decide on anything?”

“Fruits and chocolate.”

“Cheesecake. It’s a classic.”

Maggie’s sigh is loud and frustrated. She turns to meet Alex’s eyes, the other woman staring at her, concerned. She waves it off with a smile, motions for her to turn back to Kara and Winn before looking at her own teammates. She can’t really blame her when she seems to have gotten the best teammates she can get purely because Leslie Willis is an absolute bitch sometimes.

* * *

 

“Are you sure about this?”

Maggie stares at the two of them incredulously. They’re crazy, she thinks, but it’s the kind of crazy that might win them this challenge and she wants to win, wants to be able to shove it in Willis’ face that her dream team isn’t as good as they make themselves out to be when faced with hard work.

She rethinks that thought, shakes her head and reminds herself that she’s not here for the drama. She needs to win that money for Jamie, for the business she’s trying to get off the ground. She’s here for the game and not to get into any trouble.

Still, she can’t help but smirk at the thought of sticking it to the producers and doing something so wild it might just work, so she nods to her teammates and heads to the freezer to get the container of ice cream Alex had given her. If they’re going to do this then they’re going to go all out and she’s more than prepared for that.

James looks at her curiously. “I thought you were saving that for something special?”

She shrugs, looks at the container and then at Alex with a smirk.

“This is something special, Olsen. Now, do you want to get the flamethrower or should I?”

“You’re crazy.”

She grins. She might be crazy but this idea will get them ahead of everyone else, and right now they need that, need it more than any semblance of sanity that the entire group is still pretending to have.

It takes them a while to get the proportions right, but soon, they have something resembling baked Alaska, but with an even more flammable twist as James drowns the entire thing in whiskey. She clicks the flamethrower on just as Alex comes over, notices what they’re doing.

“Is that the ice cream I gave you?”

She grins at her. “Yeah. We decided to use it and make it all mysterious and whatever. If anything, we should get points for presentation.”

Alex smiles but doesn’t say anything else. For a moment, Maggie is suspicious but she doesn’t let that stop her as she approaches the dessert. With a flourish, she turns on the flame and moves it closer to the ice cream, only to watch with a slack jaw as it goes out.

“What the fuck?”

Alex pats her shoulder. “Nitrogen doesn’t burn at this temperature or pressure. Nice try tho-”

She’s cut off by the sound of a roar and a blast of heat from an explosion on Lucy and Lena’s side of the kitchen. The oven itself is on fire while the two women in question are on the other side of the room, watching it in disbelief.

“Oh my God.”

Maggie shakes her head. All she wanted was to avoid the kinds of drama that results in kitchen fires this season. She didn’t realise that meant having to deal with idiots who set ovens aflame.

* * *

 

“So maybe we thought we could get around the problem of the alcohol being too flammable.” Lucy shrugs as she looks at the camera. “Lena’s supposed to be this culinary genius who’s here to put us all to shame but she was on board with the idea.”

* * *

 

“I was not on board with the idea. Lucy dipped everything in rum before I could stop her and then shoved it into the oven, ignoring all of my warnings. I had hoped that my calculations were wrong, but that wasn’t the case and now, here we are.”

* * *

 

Kara can’t help but laugh as she watches Lucy pout under Lena’s ministrations. They’ve been growing closer over the weeks, but to look at them now it wouldn’t seem like that. Lucy is combative, resistant to everything that Lena does, and she won’t look at her.

Lena, for her part, seems to take it all in stride. She’s careful with the burns on Lucy’s fingers as she changes the dressings. That Lucy had chosen to try to rescue their dish by going headfirst into the burning wreckage of their oven doesn’t seem to faze her in the least as she shakes her head at her.

“You know, you really should have left the rum for after the cakes were finished.” Alex sits next to Kara, handing her a glass of wine that she accepts gratefully. “I mean, that’s usually the way things go with this.”

Kara nods. “You should have or…or…oh! You could have infused the rum into your cake batter. Like with a fruit cake. Except…there wasn’t any fruit in it, was there?”

Lucy shakes her head.

“We didn’t want to add too many things to it, although this one was going to add macadamia nuts.”

Lena huffs. “It’s better than that marshmallow nonsense you wanted to make. There’re only so many gelatin-based products we can use in a recipe, Lane.”

“You say that like you don’t have a chocolate addiction to rival Alex’s.”

“I don’t have a chocolate addiction.”

Kara kisses her cheek. “No. You just have an appreciation for that chocolate tower that I made you the other day when we came back from that screening of _Finding Nemo_.”

Alex nods. “That was an awesome thing you made. I’m surprised you didn’t do it for the challenge.”

Kara scrunches up her nose. “Aunt Astra would have taken off points just because. She’s the one who taught me how to make it.”

Siobhan guffaws. “You’re kidding me. You have an in with one of the judges and you’re not using it to your advantage? What kind of idiot are you?”

She shrugs. “Well, Aunt Astra would hate if I tried that and I’ve never actually cooked for Miss Grant before. She kind of used to scare me a lot when I visited her and J’onn? And I don’t think Uncle Non actually likes me.”

She’s met with a silence that confuses her. Everyone stares at her, eyes wide and jaw dropped.

“What?”

“You…you know all the judges and J’onn?”

Lucy’s voice is weak, as if her disbelief is sapping the strength away from her as she speaks. Kara frowns as she nods, wondering exactly why that’s a problem.

“It’s not like they treat me better. In fact, I think Miss Grant likes to make fun of my food more than anything else.”

That gets a snort from Alex, gets a sound that allows her to relax. If Alex is laughing about it then it must be fine, must not be that much of a problem. She must not have messed up as much as she thinks she has.

She turns to her, buries her head in Alex’s shoulder as she holds onto her. There’s something comforting about her, something about touching Alex that makes her feel much better about everything around her. She feels better when Alex is there, feels like she can do anything she wants and she doesn’t really want to lose that.

“Hey, you okay?”

There’s a concern in her voice that makes Kara smile, a concern that has her wrapping her arms around Alex and hugging her as tightly as she can. She’s grateful for this friendship, grateful for everything that Alex has given her so far, and she doesn’t want to give it up when all this is over.

“I’m fine. Just didn’t know that no one knew about my aunt.”

Alex laughs, presses a kiss to her hair. “Of course not. It’s like finding out about your teacher’s personal life. You don’t want to, but once it’s out there, the secret’s shocking.”

Kara giggles. “I don’t know what teachers you had. Mine were kind of boring.”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say, trust fund baby.”

* * *

 

“Kara? She’s kind of awesome. I don’t know what you want me to say, though. We’re friends. That’s all we are.”

Lord sits in front of her, leaning forward quite a bit. Alex is uncomfortable, but she doesn’t let it show. She’s heard the stories about him, heard what he’s capable of, and she doesn’t want to think about what he can do to her to make her life harder.

She smiles instead, gives him a semblance of something she reserves for the professors she doesn’t like. It makes her feel dirty, makes her wish she was anywhere but here, but she has a contract to fulfill and she really doesn’t want to get kicked off at the moment.

“Is that really all there is to it, Miss Danvers?” He returns her smile, though she thinks it’s more of a leer than anything resembling a smile. “I mean, maybe we should all get together and talk about it.”

Alex can’t help herself when she shivers. The words are meaningless, but there’s something about the oil in his voice that doesn’t sit well with her. Vasquez seems to notice because they lean down, whisper something to Lord that has him leaving.

She smiles her thanks at them, leans back and lets a breath out as she looks at the ceiling.

* * *

 

The trout is on fire. Alex doesn’t know how, but somehow she’s managed to set the centerpiece of their dish on fire and all she can do is stand there and stare while, across the room from her, Siobhan is scolding Kara for nearly cutting off her own finger.

She wants to go to her, wants to defend her from the other woman, but she can’t seem to make herself move as she stares at her own disaster. She wants to do something, anything, but somehow, she can’t seem to think of what she should do.

“Out of the way, Danvers. Kara’s going to be okay as soon as they get her to medical, but we’re not if we don’t get this fire put out.”

She blinks as Lucy pushes past her with a…she blinks again.

“Is that my ice cream?”

Lucy tosses the contents of the container onto the fire, which sizzles out, before turning to Alex with her hands on her hips. She’ll never admit to it, but she is a little scared of her in that moment. Lucy Lane can be a devil to work with and she shrinks back from her for a minute before remembering who she is and grabbing the now ruined dish.

“Think we can fix this?”

Lucy stares. “Please tell me you’re kidding, Alex. There’s no way to fix this, no way in hell we can even make it over in time to finish the challenge. Oh, we’re going to lose so badly.”

“Come on, Luce. We’re not giving up just because of one little accident, are we? I mean, Kara nearly chopped her finger off and her team isn’t giving up, are they?”

“The other half of Kara’s team is Siobhan.” Lucy rolls her eyes. “They won’t stop, even if they wanted to. That doesn’t mean that we have to follow their example and work ourselves to the bone.”

“Right, so we just let ourselves lose? I mean our competition is Lena, Mon-El, Winn and James. We can totally be better than that.”

When Lucy looks at her again, there’s something in her eyes that make Alex swallow. It’s going to be a long afternoon.

* * *

 

Kara flinches when Alex bends her finger. She knows that she’s trying to be gentle, that she isn’t trying to hurt her, but she still can’t help but react to the pain. The cut is deep enough that she’d needed professional help and was told to not work for a few days, deep enough to cause her a significant amount of discomfort.

Alex grumbles as she looks at it, examining her finger with great care. She knows that she isn’t satisfied, that she would redo the wrapping if she could, but Kara also knows that Alex won’t mess with what the paramedics have done. She won’t cause her any pain if she can avoid it at all.

Kara leans against her at this thought, nuzzles her shoulder.

“It won’t break off suddenly. I promise you that.”

“Do you? Do you really? ‘Cause you also promised to be careful while you were teamed up with Siobhan and we all know how that turned out, don’t we?”

Kara pouts at her. She knows it’s playing dirty, but she can’t help herself when she’s with Alex. She wants to take advantage of every moment they have together, to spend as much time with her just having fun and being herself.

Alex smiles, kisses her cheek as she gets up and pulls Kara out into the backyard. The fire pit is burning low, everyone gone to bed now that it’s so late. They have an early morning to look forward to but she doesn’t really care as long as she can relax with her best friend.

“You lost today. Are you okay?”

“You’re the injured one and you’re worrying about my ego? Really Kara?”

She smiles at her. “Well, there was a lot of fire involved. I’m kind of wondering if you’re hiding a few injuries from me. I mean, Lucy is a scary, scary woman when she’s mad and she looked like she wanted to murder you, to be honest. Are you sure you’re okay, Alex?”

Alex returns her smile and Kara feels herself melting a little. She loves that smile, loves the way Alex softens in their private moments, the way she seems so much bigger and smaller at the same time. That it’s with her makes her feel special, makes her feel like there’s so much more between them than they want to admit, but she doesn’t really care about that at the moment.

She just wants Alex to smile more, to be more of herself than she usually is with everyone. She wants her to feel at ease with the rest of the group the way she feels at ease with her and she’s willing to do anything to make that happen.

Still, she likes these moments, likes the way Alex keeps herself safe just for her. It’s the way she smiles, the way she’s so free with herself with only Kara that wins her over, that makes her happy to just be here.

“I’m fine.” Alex’s voice calls her back to reality. “I just need a little bit of time to relax. Like you said, Lucy is terrifying, though I think Siobhan is even scarier. She kept going on and on about how useless you were while she chopped vegetables aggressively. It was…terrifying, I think is the right word.”

Kara snorts. “Siobhan is nice sometimes.”

Alex stares at her and she can see the disbelief written clear across her face. She knows that she’s one of the exceptions to the whole hate thing everyone has for Siobhan, but she can’t help but want to be nice to her. Maybe if she is, then the other woman won’t be as prickly, and then she can breathe easily whenever Winn flirts with her.

“What? She’s…nice.”

“You don’t even believe that yourself, do you?”

“It’s really deep down but I’m sure it’s there, okay? You just have to dig really, really deep to find it. Like, really, really, really deep.”

Alex raises an eyebrow. “And just how deep have you gone, Miss Zor-El? I thought you were a good girl.”

Kara blushes. “Alex!”

Before Alex can continue, however, the door is shoved open and Siobhan walks out, staring down at Kara as she towers over her. Kara swallows and tries to meet her gaze, but it’s hard to do so when she’s terrified of Siobhan’s anger, particularly when they’d nearly lost the challenge thanks to the time she cost them.

“You’re an idiot, Zor-El.”

Kara has to move quickly to grab Alex before she can do something horrible and potentially handicapping to her. She doesn’t know when Alex became this protective but she’s grateful for it, even if it isn’t really necessary at the moment.

“Sorry?”

Siobhan rolls her eyes. “You can call your girlfriend off. I’m here to give you this. God knows you’re so careless and stupid that you’re actually going to cut off your finger next time, which, can you be fucking careful?”

“Uh, I guess?” Kara hesitantly takes the book Siobhan is pushing in her direction. “It wasn’t really something I wanted to do?”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. I want Cat Grant’s attention and if you keep messing up, then it makes me look bad when we’re paired up, so get your shit together and learn how to chop one handed, Zor-El. I’m not here to be your wet nurse.”

“Uh…”

She’s gone before Kara can come up with a reply to that, not that it really matters in the end when she looks down. Siobhan’s given her a book on one handed chopping that she can’t really understand the purpose of.

“Um…? I don’t…”

Alex looks at the book and lets out a laugh. Kara looks at her in question.

“She went out and bought this today.” She points at a blurry patch on the upper right hand corner of the cover. “The glue from the price tag is still sticky, see?”

“I don’t…she just doesn’t want me to drag her down, I don’t think.”

Alex shakes her head. “She was really angry about you getting hurt. I think Siobhan might just care a little bit about you.”

“I…what?”

She laughs, gets up and starts walking away from Kara.

“Alex? Alex come back. Seriously, please just come back.”

* * *

 

“Kara? She’s pretty cool. And pretty. I didn’t really know anyone could be that pretty and shine so bright until I met her. It was weird, but refreshing weird, you know?”

Winn is nervous. He should be used to this by now but they’re asking him about Alex and Kara, and Alex scares him. She scares him a lot. He doesn’t want her to find out if he’s said anything that could get her angry and beat him senseless. He likes his bones in one place.

Vasquez looks at him with a raised eyebrow and a smirk as they fiddle with the camera. He fidgets under their gaze, looking down for a second. He really doesn’t want to say anything that could get him hurt.

“Look, Kara is sweet, okay? She’s like the sweetest, nicest person I’ve ever met and, to be honest, I really like her, but I also like my bones in one place, so please don’t edit this badly?”

* * *

 

Lucy stares at another fire, wondering what she did in life to deserve this from people she thought were her friends. Really, how could two of the best chefs she knows cause two kitchen fires within hours of each other? It had to be some kind of record.

It didn’t make sense, really, that Kara would set, of all things, water on fire. By all accounts, they’d had everything under control. She and Alex were on the same team, Siobhan and Lena were paired together with Winn, the ingredients were not anywhere near the fire. So why did she have to deal with this so early in the morning? It wasn’t fair.

“Uh, Luce? I kind of need you to move so I can put that out. It’s going to burn harder if we let it go on like that longer.”

Lucy moves on auto-pilot, grabbing the extinguisher from Kara before aiming at the fire. Once it’s out, Kara pats her back, the movement and impact almost soothing but not quite. She can’t really feel anything past the sheer amount of disbelief that comes with witnessing the way these two have become so co-dependent in such a short time.

She turns to Kara, presses a hand against her cheek. She doesn’t know why, but she can’t stop herself from patting it, eyes drifting over to where Alex is watching them. She rolls her eyes, glares a little before returning her attention to Kara.

“You’re a good cook but you need to focus more. Now come on, let’s go start over.”

“Start over? Lucy, we can’t. We don’t have time.”

There’s a look in Kara’s eyes that makes her grin. If she can’t win she can at least put the fear of God into another teammate. She doesn’t care that it’s morally wrong, or whatever. She just wants this day to be over so that she can relax by the pool with a large helping of wine and maybe some scotch when that runs out.

At least it helps her to breathe easily as she directs Kara in the kitchen. She can’t help herself when she looks at her, can’t help but want to be this girl’s friend, but she has to remember that this is a competition, and she and James really need that money, need to have something that they can build upon as they break away from Clark and Lois’ shadows. She can’t afford to let this stop her.

“No! Not the rum, not this time.” She grabs the bottle from Kara and drinks from it before stashing it behind a bunch of unused ingredients. “We don’t want another fire. Ever.”

“Excellent idea, Miss Lane.  She winces as J’onn and Astra approach their station. “It will prove to be an interesting challenge to cook without resorting to using alcohol for an easy solution.”

Kara groans as Astra turns to the kitchen at large, and she can’t help but sympathise. Having the rules changed this late in the game is much more of a pain than anything else, and she can’t help but want to bang her head against a wall for her own stupidity. She’s already feeling the effects of everything becoming that much harder.

J’onn nods and clears his throat. There’s something about him that always gets everyone’s attention and today isn’t that different. Even Alex looks up from where she’s doing unspeakable things to a chicken that Lucy really doesn’t want to think about too much.

“Listen up people. Due to the number of alcohol induced kitchen fires, we’ve come to a decision. From this challenge on, alcohol is now on the list of ingredients that are not permitted in the kitchen. We want to reduce the risk of injury and, until you can prove yourselves, it won’t be available to you for cooking. Smuggling it in will result in immediate disqualification.”

Lucy does smirk when she sees Mon-El go white, knows that he won’t be able to keep up with the rest of them without it. If nothing else, this ban is good for getting rid of the trash.

* * *

 

James shrugs as he listens to Vasquez.

“It’s not like it was a huge change, you know? I think Lucy was grumbling about it but the ban on alcohol was probably the best thing they could have done for us.”

“Doesn’t it make the challenges harder?”

“I guess? The way I see it, it means we have more room to get creative. Living in Clark Kent’s shadow, you have to learn how to stand out, and this is my chance to do exactly that.”

“Is that your goal then? To strike out on your own and become something better than him?”

James thinks about it, careful with the way he phrases his words. He loves the big guy, but he’s been in Clark’s shadow for so long that any chance to get out from under it seems like the best chance he can get.

“My goal is to get my own business, start something together with Lucy that we can be proud of in the future. It’s not something big like Siobhan or immediate like Alex, but it’s what we want to start with and eventually grow into our own legacy.”

“And you’re not worried about the potential for Lucy to leave you behind? It seems like she’s making friends with the bigger players in this game.”

James huffs. He really doesn’t want to think about that, to think about the ways this competition is showing all of his inefficiencies so well. He doesn’t want to think about all the ways in which he could be left behind so easily, even if he likes Kara and Alex and Winn.

* * *

 

Kara relaxes against Alex as she looks up at the sky. It’s starry tonight, the atmosphere clear of any and every cloud that had been there during the day, and she can’t help but feel safe. She can’t help but feel like this is where she belongs in that moment and nothing can really change that for her.

“My mom didn’t want me to go into this as a career, I don’t think. She was so disappointed when I told her that I was going to work at McG’s instead of taking another lab assistant position.”

“That sucks. You’re really good at what you do and there’s some kind of science to it too.”

Alex looks at her with a raised eyebrow and she has to duck her head. She likes the way she feels when she does that but she’s not ready to tell her that yet. She doesn’t know if she’s ever going to be, but that doesn’t matter, not here and now.

“You don’t really get it, do you?”

She shakes her head. “I don’t like to mix something like this with science too much. There’re too many memories there.”

“Right, your dad. I forgot.”

Kara shakes her head. “It’s okay. I think he would have liked you. Maybe. He couldn’t really cook but he would have been fascinated by how molecular gastronomy works and he probably would have liked that you feed me a lot.”

Alex snorts. “I have no idea why you like my cooking so much when you can make really good stuff on your own.”

Kara snuggles close. “I like that you make it specifically for my tastes. A lot of people don’t like to do that.”

“I like cooking for you. I’ve never really met anyone with an appetite like yours. How do you even stay so fit with the way you eat? It’s kind of unbelievable, to be honest.”

She giggles, tickles Alex a little as she looks at the stars. They’re bright tonight, but they’re nothing compared to the way Alex’s eyes shine as she looks at her. Kara kind of wants to sink into her, to melt into that look until she can’t stay still anymore.

She presses herself closer, looks at her hands as she hugs Alex. Kara can’t help but want to be closer to her as she stares, can’t help but move until she’s half on top of Alex.

“How are you so light?”

“I run.”

“What?”

“I run. Not so much right now because I don’t really feel like exploring the area around here, but I usually run when I’m home. It helps me to think of new things to make…”

“Sounds like there’s a story there. Do you want to talk or are we just going to lay here and do nothing but stargaze? Do you want champagne? Popcorn? Maybe a pastry or five? I’m pretty sure there’s still a huge chunk of pie in the fridge.”

Kara snorts, presses her nose against Alex’s neck as she plays with her shirt. It’s amazing how well Alex knows her, how well she knows what makes her feel better and what makes her want to jump out of her skin when it’s only been a few weeks.

“Before she got her restaurant off the ground, my aunt used to take me on walks and we’d talk about how bad my dad’s food was, or how much I was looking forward to baking with her. Turns out I actually liked cooking, but it wasn’t the same when she left.”

“Huh. Guess it was pretty lucky that you got into this competition then. It sounds like you missed her a lot.”

“I did. When I found out that she was judging, it was kind of amazing, to be honest. She never told me, even when I told her that I got in.”

“I’m sure she had her reasons…”

Kara shakes her head. “Whatever it was, I don’t think I want to know.”

* * *

 

Kara shifts under Leslie’s gaze, looks down at her lap as she thinks of what she wants to say. She knows that she has a persona to keep up, an image that she’d agreed upon with the production company, but she doesn’t think she has the energy for that today.

“Hey, spazz. We have a time limit here, so you gotta get a move on.”

“Oh, right. Sorry.” She smiles weakly, doesn’t look at the camera, so much as she looks at the wall as she rests her hands on the sides of the chair. “I’m just tired.”

Leslie raises an eyebrow. “Please tell me there isn’t footage of you and Danvers getting it on by the fire pit. We actually can’t put that in the show itself. Shame, really. I’d probably love to see the ratings for that.”

“Is that really all that matters? The ratings? Isn’t there something more you want to do with all of this? Isn’t there something more that matters in the long run than the ratings?”

She huffs, looks down again. Some time during her rant, she had met Leslie’s gaze, but Kara can’t look at her when her cheeks are red with a shame she hasn’t felt in a long time, a shame she doesn’t want to think about with all of the memories that come with it.

Still, when she doesn’t hear any scoffing, she can’t help but look up, can’t help but meet sharp, calculating eyes that make her squirm in her seat.

“What?”

“Who would have thought that somewhere in that painfully naïve little shell of yours there would be some kind of fire. Cat Grant will probably love that if you pushed it during the challenges.”

“I…what?”

“Yeah. Here’s an assignment for you. We’re changing you to the rebel character. You get to question everything and challenge the judges. The audience is going to eat that up.”

“Um…”

* * *

 

Alex laughs out loud as Kara finishes her story. She knows it’s not funny, knows that it’s actually something serious, but she can’t help herself. To hear Kara tell it, she’d been a menace, but she can’t help but imagine the way this blonde puppy must have pouted her way out of having to be what Leslie wants her to be.

They might call her Livewire for a reason but Kara is Alex’s super girl, her hero. She’s everything Alex loves and she can’t help but imagine the way she keeps being so cute when she wants to be a menace, wants to pretend that she’s tougher than she actually is. It’s cute, she thinks, though she will never actually tell Kara that.

“It’s not that hilarious. She wanted me to go up againt Aunt Astra. Do you know how scary Aunt Astra is?”

“She can’t be all that bad if she loves you so much.”

“You’re kidding me, right? In three months she went through twelve head chefs and twenty four sous chefs.”

“You can’t be serious.”

Kara nods. “Of course I am. I never joke about Aunt Astra’s restaurant.”

But she’s….she’s…she’s so strict.”

Kara raises an eyebrow. “You have the entire crew afraid of you and you’re complaining about my aunt?”

Alex pouts. “Why do you have to tease me so much? You don’t see me teasing you about you and Leslie even though I probably could.”

Kara gasps. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Wanna bet?” Alex wiggles her eyebrows. “I have a ton of ammo against you.”

“Alexandra Miriam Danvers, don’t you dare.”

Alex scrunches her nose. She hates being called by her full name but somehow, coming from Kara, it sounds so ridiculously adorable. Kara’s efforts at intimidation have always left her more amused than scared and this time is no different, probably would never be different for as long as she knows her.

Kara snuggles close to her, her body heat more than welcome in the cold open air. They could light the fire pit, but she doesn’t want to get up, feels like being a little lazy after the long day they’ve had. She still hasn’t forgiven Winn for setting her favourite flannel on fire, but this? The way Kara clings to her after checking her over obsessively? It makes it worth it.

**Author's Note:**

> Based partially on [this](http://racetothedge.tumblr.com/post/162704945580/the-supergirl-cooking-show-au-that-nobody-asked), but I couldn't keep it up for long with the way the story was going.


End file.
